


Only in My Dreams

by betheflame



Series: Shorts & Drabbles 2020 [19]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Surrogacy, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28194858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: Steve is stuck away from his family on Christmas Eve and is a little grumpy about it.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Shorts & Drabbles 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647499
Comments: 22
Kudos: 180





	Only in My Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Fluff and nonsense for the week of Christmas.

Steve blinked at his phone. Logically, he knew the alert was real. Emotionally, he couldn't process it.

_Flight DA458 is cancelled. You are being rebooked onto the next available flight._

It was Christmas Eve. What the hell next available flight would get him home for Christmas morning?

He pulled up the messaging app and told himself that crying in the middle of the Cincinnati International Airport (which was actually in Kentucky because America was a weird ass place) was not going to help anything.

_iMessage: Tony Stark_

_Steve: Cancelled_

_Tony: Fuck_

_Steve: Mechanical issues and there are no other planes_

_Tony: You’re in a Delta hub! What do they mean there are no other planes._

_Steve: Maybe crew issues? I don’t know, babe, I just know I won’t be there tomorrow morning._

_Tony: He’s going to be so upset_

_Steve: You think that wasn’t my first thought? That I’ve ruined Christmas?_

_Tony: You didn’t ruin Christmas. Delta did._

_Steve: Well that makes me feel better_

_Tony: Are you getting a hotel?_

_Steve: I guess so._

The phone buzzed with an incoming notification that he was on a 6:45am flight the next day. He pinched the bridge of his nose and headed for security.

The trip had been a last minute one anyway. A Hail Mary pass to convince a client to not drop his firm at the start of the year. He’d basically spent three days on his knees in front of one of the largest contracting firms in Ohio, promising them the moon if they would just keep R+B Designs as their main architecture firm.

It had not worked.

So now, not only was he going to miss Christmas morning with his family, he had to call Bucky and tell him that he’d failed them.

Fighting back tears of both defeat and exhaustion was getting harder with every step.

Just as he was about to open the Uber app, however, he realized that he was missing a key piece of data in his decision making: Delta was not the only airline that flew to the New York metropolitan area.

Feeling like an idiot, he started in a full sprint towards the Southwest counter.

* * *

Tony Stark had never been interested in being a single father. He was especially disinterested after the past week. Peter had gone from being hyped up on sugar from holiday parties at school, to crashing each night into a whiney mess. Four of his friends wanted dogs, so he’d decided he wanted one, too, and had become obnoxious about bugging Tony for one. Every time Tony had said no to something, Peter had pouted that Tony was the Mean Dad, and Steve was the fun one, and when was Fun Dad coming home?

On the third day, Tony was ready to send his son to stay with his cousins for a bit - Peter loved being with Kelsey and Anna - but didn’t really feel like he could subject Bucky and Nat to this level of petulance.

And now Steve wasn’t going to be there for Christmas morning.

Which was when they were telling Peter that the baby that had been growing in Auntie Pepper’s belly was going to be his sister.

Something he kind of wanted his husband there for.

Small request.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and got up off the couch. It was 9:15 and Peter had been passed out ages ago. They’d gone to the children’s service at the Episcopal Church down the street because live animals were involved, and Peter’s fascination with sheep was well documented. Tony wasn’t sure he bought any of the supernatural being nonsense, but he deeply resonated with the idea that life wasn’t meant to be lived alone.

He’d done the solo act for all of his 20s and it very nearly killed him. By the time he hit his early 30s, and his sister introduced him to her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s best friend, he was ready to fall face first into community.

And so he did. Instead of just Nat, Pepper, and Rhodey, he suddenly found himself amongst a sprawling family that spanned countries. When he and Steve married, it was in their friend Hope’s backyard, surrounded by people that actually knew him. Nothing short of a miracle.

Peter had come by way of that family. Pepper knew somebody who was pregnant and didn’t have the resources to raise a kid, and Tony and Steve had been itching for one for a while. When he turned 3, they started the process of adopting another baby, but it had fallen through enough times that Pepper offered surrogacy. She and Rhodey weren’t interested in having children at all, but she still loved them enough to grow one.

Family. What a miracle.

And now his husband was stuck in middle America like a Springsteen song, and he felt exceptionally sorry for himself.

He knew if he called Pepper, whose husband had been deployed more holidays than they’d spent together, he’d get zero sympathy. He probably didn’t deserve much, but he wanted it anyway.

_iMessage: RhodeyBear_

_Tony: Steve’s stuck in Cincinnati_

_Rhodey: Fuck, I’d still choose Baghdad_

_Tony: Why are you awake?_

_Rhodey: Because Pep is. Your baby is giving her heartburn._

_Tony: I’ve been giving it to her since 1988, so that probably fits._

_Rhodey: *snort*_

_Rhodey: sorry your boy isn’t gonna be there tomorrow._

_Tony: I’m moping_

_Rhodey: At least you acknowledge it._

Tony smiled slightly and shifted the conversation to the most recent Liverpool match. Before he knew it, it was about midnight and he figured it was time to head to bed. He took some bites out of the snacks for Santa, sprinkled the soot around the fireplace to show where Santa had been, and arranged the presents so that they looked perfect. He snapped a shot and sent it to Steve.

Tony: Wish my favorite architect was here to make the pile perfect.

He was waiting for the usual retort that Steve’s favorite engineer did the job already, but there was no response. Steve must have fallen asleep. A pang of sadness hit Tony’s heart, but he shrugged it off and plodded upstairs.

* * *

Tony felt the bed shift.

“What’s up, Petey Pie? You know you gotta stay in your bed until 6 or Santa takes the presents back.”

“Well,” a much deeper voice that Peter’s replied, “that gives us a few hours left.”

Tony sat up quickly and felt his jaw drop. “Steve! Why aren’t you in Ohio?”

“When I broke myself out of the fuzzy brain that travel nightmares give me, I realized I was at an international airport and there were a few more airlines than just Delta,” Steve said as he pulled Tony in for a kiss. “I bullied my way onto a Southwest flight that landed at Newark a bit ago, and then paid more money than even God has to take an Uber here.”

Tony laughed. “You hate bullies.”

“But I love my family,” Steve said, “and if I had to transform into a superhero and fly here, I wasn’t going to miss this morning if I could help it.”

“You’re already a superhero in my book.”

“Oh, I do so love sleepy Tony and the Hallmarkisms you sprout.”

“Shuddup,” Tony said and pulled Steve’s arms around him as he settled back under the covers. “Less words, more snuggles.” He was gratified by the rumble of Steve’s chuckle against his back.

“Merry Happy, sweetheart,” Steve whispered into Tony’s ear.

“Merry Happy, baby.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked the story, I'd love to know! Kudos and comments are life giving. If you're not sure what to say in the comment, know that I take keyboard smashes and emojis as full love. So, if you liked it more than just a kudos, dropping a heart emoji is great and I thank you in advance.
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the [Put on the Suit Stony Server ](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) or the [STB Enthusiasts Stuckony](https://discord.gg/ktXHUb4) one.  
>   
> Oh! And FestiveFerret and I have a [fandom podcast](http://www.podonthesuit.com) if you're so inclined.  
>   
> 


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